Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Great Recession of 2008 brought the developed world to the brink of financial ruination, and although in the past eight years some progress has been made in restoring the fiscal health of the West, one economic indicator remains stubbornly stuck at historic lows. Instead of the robust growth rates of 4% or more that were the norm since World War II and the despite the frantic efforts of central banks to stimulate growth, we remain stuck with growth rates of about 2%, and this is one reason why so many Americans have not experienced any real recovery from the recession.

Experts in the “dismal science” of economics offer many explanations for our stagnation, and it is admittedly difficult to identify all of the forces at work in a global economy. But one of the most important reasons why we are frozen with longterm anemic growth is seldom acknowledged in public because it is taboo to do so. The simple truth is this: Europe and the United States are missing over two hundred million people, and because they are not here to live and study and work and play and buy and build and pay taxes and marry and have children who go on to do the same, our economies are sputtering.

And where are those missing people? They are dead. They were murdered in the womb. Or they were never conceived because their parents wanted the transitory pleasure of one moment without the “burden” of new human life. To put it simply: we are contracepting and aborting ourselves into decline and poverty because as a civilization we do not value human life for its own sake.

Given the nature of contraception, there is no way to know exactly how many more of us there would be if the contraceptive mentality had not convinced nearly our entire civilization that children are an undesirable burden to be avoided if possible, until and unless – of course – one decides that having a child would be personally fulfilling. And then making that child for one’s own satisfaction justifies any measure, including fertilizing dozens of embryos (most of whom will remain frozen until they are thrown in the garbage or subjected to laboratory experiments) or renting the womb of another woman or purchasing the seed of a man known only as the donor.

But if it isn’t possible to know for certain how many children were never conceived, it is possible to know how many have been murdered. Since 1973 the butcher’s bill now passes 60 million in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, and in Europe the number of tiny corpses is more than twice our count. We aren’t growing because we are murdering ourselves.

When you cast your ballot on Tuesday, think on those who are not here, and speak for the dead.